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Missouri’s largest electric utility believes a bill aimed at reducing competition and giving monopoly providers an advantage in building transmission lines will avoid cost overruns and deliver better results for customers. In its home state, where it stands to benefit, Ameren Missouri has offered its full-throated support to legislation aimed at giving the company the […]

The post Missouri, Kansas utilities back bills to reestablish monopoly on transmission projects appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Lawmakers return to the Missouri Capitol Monday to kick off the second half of the 2023 legislative session with a laundry list of priorities and a constitutional deadline to get them done.  Legalizing sports betting, changing the initiative petition process, education policy shifts, tax cuts, banning foreign land ownership, expanding postpartum health care and a […]

The post Debate over transgender health care threatens to upend Missouri legislative session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Bipartisan momentum is building in Congress to restrict China and other foreign adversaries from purchasing U.S. farmland, a reflection of a similar push by some states as well as apprehension over Chinese spy balloons, rising land prices and growing international competition. “Foreign ownership of agricultural land threatens small family farms and the overall […]

The post Limits on foreign ownership of U.S. farmland gain support in Congress, despite skepticism appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Spending time fighting “woke,” “wokeness,” and a so-called “culture war” instead of focusing on the real issues and problems we face as a nation is a downright miscarriage of the political and legislative processes. Legislators, political leaders and potential candidates have found a new strawman to use to reenergize and promote continued racism and disenfranchisement. […]

The post Campaigns to kill ‘wokeness’ are efforts to perpetuate racism, disenfranchisement appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A software company that successfully sued the state and was awarded $23 million last year has filed a new lawsuit against Missouri’s Department of Social Services, alleging the agency “knowingly and purposefully” violated open records law. According to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Cole County, Florida-based HHS Technology submitted a request for records to the […]

The post Missouri’s Department of Social Services sued for alleged Sunshine Law violations appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers should view America’s staggering opioid crisis, including the rise of illicit fentanyl, through an “ecosystems” approach, argues a massive RAND Corporation report published Thursday. That means they should examine the gaps and interconnections among emergency response, data collection, education, treatment, housing and law enforcement, the report advises. The 600-page volume — which the authors […]

The post As opioid overdose deaths keep rising, report urges lawmakers to develop new approaches appeared first on Missouri Independent.

To crack down on price gouging, proposed legislation in Missouri calls for allowing felony charges against health care staffing agencies that substantially raise their prices during a declared emergency. A New York bill includes a cap on the amount staffing agencies can charge health care facilities. And a Texas measure would allow civil penalties against […]

The post Temp nurses cost hospitals big during the pandemic. Missouri lawmakers are mulling limits appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack bristled at complaints from both Democrats and Republicans of unchecked departmental spending and delayed support for farmers during a Thursday U.S. Senate oversight hearing. He also lobbied Congress to provide a farm bill that will balance large-scale productivity with the needs of small and mid-sized producers, a theme the […]

The post Members of U.S. Senate agriculture panel spar with Vilsack over USDA spending, response appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Battered by years of criticism from U.S. lawmakers and environmental advocates, the Department of Defense will stop purchasing PFAS-containing firefighting foam later this year and phase it out entirely in 2024. The replacement for Aqueous Film Forming Foam has yet to be determined, and advocates are frustrated it’s taken so long to halt […]

The post Pentagon to halt use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS as cleanup costs mount appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The painful and tragic reality we face is that it often takes the murder of a Black person on national news for people to start questioning the function of police. Take for example the excruciating case of Tyre Nichols, whose name has recently been added to the long list of those we’ll never forget. Just […]

The post The ‘wanteds’ system must end appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The St. Louis region’s public transit agency plans to “improve customer service” by making cuts to its paratransit system serving those with disabilities. It’s a move disability rights advocates have decried as a “cruel” solution to a real problem. Metro Transit’s paratransit system, which is called Call-A-Ride, provides services for those with disabilities in St. […]

The post Disability-rights advocates decry planned cuts to transit service in St. Louis County appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate took a broadly bipartisan vote Thursday to advance legislation that would end the 32-year-old and the 20-year-old Authorizations for Use of Military Force against Iraq. The 68-27 vote moves the measure past the chamber’s 60-vote legislative filibuster and towards a final passage vote as soon as next week. House Republican leaders, some […]

The post U.S. Senate moves toward repealing authority for military force against Iraq appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The federal Surface Transportation Board has approved the $31 billion merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroads, saying Wednesday the combination will reduce travel time, incentivize investment and enhance efficiency while providing safety and environmental benefits. The STB said that while approving the merger, it also is imposing a number of conditions and […]

The post Federal government approves $31 billion Kansas City Southern railroad merger appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Wednesday for the federal authority responsible for determining the causes of transportation casualties to investigate the safety culture at all major North American freight railroads. Following the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment that caused a toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, Schumer, a New York Democrat, said […]

The post U.S. Senate leader calls for safety audit into all major railroads after Ohio derailment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri is one of just 13 states that levies a sales tax on grocery food items. Citing the hefty burden on low-income shoppers and rising cost of food, several other states have moved to reduce the burden of the grocery sales tax. Kansas began phasing it out this year and Illinois suspended the tax for […]

The post Proposals to eliminate Missouri sales tax on groceries in limbo appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The nation’s largest grid operator is warning that it might not have enough electric generation in the future to guarantee reliability.  And it comes as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission convenes a forum on the multibillion-dollar capacity market PJM operates to ensure there’s enough power to meet demand even during grid emergencies, such as during […]

The post The nation’s biggest electric capacity market needs fixing, critics say appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  Bill Thompson cooks at a fast-food restaurant, shares a car with his wife and helps care for an older family member. He’s got a lot to manage, but Thompson has found time to attend “listening sessions” that the Kansas City Royals have organized to discuss […]

The post Kansas City service workers push for protections as Royals look to build downtown stadium appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A few cities and towns around the U.S. are letting noncitizens vote in local elections, and more could follow. In response, Republicans see a chance to turn opposition to noncitizen voting into a national rallying cry. On March 14, Washington, D.C., became the latest city to approve noncitizen voting, when a bill allowing the District’s […]

The post Noncitizens allowed to vote in some local elections around the country, spurring GOP backlash appeared first on Missouri Independent.

TOPEKA, Kansas — The Keystone oil pipeline was operating at the bounds of its permit when it burst and released almost 13,000 barrels of oil in northern Kansas, an executive from the company said Tuesday. Gary Salsman, vice president of field operations for TC Energy, which owns the Keystone pipeline, testified before a joint meeting […]

The post Keystone oil pipeline was pushed to bounds of its permit before Kansas spill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After the largest U.S. bank failure in more than a decade, regional bank stocks plunged on Monday as the federal government — with the 2007-2008 financial crisis still a fresh memory for many — rushed to reassure Americans that the U.S. banking system was stable. President Joe Biden told Americans that the risks taken on by failed banks will […]

The post Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse differs from our last financial crisis appeared first on Missouri Independent.